Solid-state lighting devices may consume considerably less power as compared to incandescent lights. They may also be designed to output different wavelengths of light. Such attributes make solid-state lighting attractive for both residential and commercial applications. Some types of solid-state lighting devices may include laser diodes and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Ultraviolet (UV) solid-state lighting devices may be used to curing photo sensitive media such as coatings, including inks, adhesives, preservatives, etc. In some applications, it may be desirable to provide different levels of irradiance from a single lighting array as part of a manufacturing process. For example, in one manufacturing process, it may be desirable for LEDs to output light at 100% capacity for a period of time and then reduce the LED output to 60% of capacity for a remainder of a curing period to finish a work piece. In another example, manufacturing flexibility may be increased by supplying two different work pieces having different light intensity curing needs to a single LED array. The two different work pieces may be individually cured by the LED array by adjusting LED array output in response to the type of work piece. However, LED array irradiance may not always be consistent when changing between different irradiance output levels. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide more consistent and uniform output from a LED array when switching between different irradiance output levels.
The inventors herein have recognized the challenge of providing a desired lighting output and have developed a method for operating one or more light emitting devices, comprising: selecting a current that corresponds to a desired irradiance output of the one or more light emitting devices in response to a change in the desired irradiance output of the one or more light emitting devices; and outputting the current modified via a linearized current adjustment to the one or more light emitting devices.
By modifying or adjusting a current supplied to one or more lighting devices via a linearized current adjustment, it may be possible to provide a substantially constant irradiance after adjusting lighting system irradiance in response to a change in desired irradiance. For example, an operator or controller may request a step increase or decrease in irradiance provided by a lighting array. A current supplied to the array may be adjusted via a linearized current adjustment to provide the new irradiance (e.g., the step increase in irradiance) level with little variation in the irradiance level. In this way, it may be possible to change from one irradiance level to a next irradiance level without a large variation in irradiance after the step increase is implemented.
The present description may provide several advantages. In particular, the approach may improve lighting system output consistency. Additionally, the approach may simplify lighting system computational processing. Further, the approach may provide for fast and accurate changes between different lighting output levels.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following detailed description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.